Lagos, Nigeria – Kola Alawada shelters from the hail underneath the silhoutte of a telephone equipment kiosk in Laptop Village in Lagos, his vintage Android telephone with a cracked display clutched in his hand.
The sprawling, chaotic market in southwestern Nigeria is Africa’s biggest era hub, the place streets coated with buying groceries plazas and casual stalls promote and service a plenty of gadgets throughout a field of value issues.
Alawada waits gladly month James, a telephone reseller whose actual identify we don’t seem to be the use of to give protection to his privateness, haggles with some other buyer on a WhatsApp name. The 21-year-old scholar is able to transfer from his vintage instrument to an iPhone.
“At school, when I want to [woo] a girl, I borrow my friend’s iPhone 14 Pro Max. If she sees me with an Android, she’ll think I’m broke,” Alawada laughs, regardless that the force weighs on him. Quickly, he hopes he’s going to now not wish to borrow any further.
For plenty of younger Nigerians, the iPhone is greater than a telephone – this is a situation image. But, a modern one nonetheless prices greater than maximum working-class Nigerians can have enough money. The cost of the newly absolved iPhone 16 is greater than 3 million naira – this is greater than $1,800 in a rustic the place the minimal per month salary is $44.
Year entry-level Androids promote for as little as 25,500 naira ($15), even used type, second-hand iPhones are pricier – a older iPhone 8 Plus, for example, can price about 150,000 naira ($88), in spite of its old-fashioned iOS.
So, many like Alawada in finding extra method of securing an iPhone.
At Laptop Village, he’s on a project to promote his vintage Android, upload the cash to his pot of financial savings and importance it to shop for an iPhone.
As James continues his backward and forward with the alternative buyer over WhatsApp, Alawada waits, questioning if his father had purchased his Android right here. He recollects the joys of unboxing the Tecno Phantom X in 2021 firstly of college – a people funding of greater than 200,000 naira ($118).
Now, years upcoming, that reminiscence feels detached as he waits to promote the similar telephone within the hopes of affording a second-hand iPhone 12 Professional for 600,000 naira ($353) – an quantity a ways exceeding his father’s wage and 8 instances Nigeria’s minimal salary.
In any case off the telephone, the 35-year-old reseller inspects Alawada’s Android and shakes his head. “No one will buy this for a good price,” James says bluntly. “Androids don’t hold second-hand value.” He palms the telephone again, and Alawada’s face in brief falls.
The coed feels his plan losing momentum within the rain-soaked chaos, however the sadness does now not sway him.
Flawless fixer
The worldwide iPhone vs Android fight has raged for 17 years, with Android commanding about 70 % of the marketplace and iPhone protecting 28 %. That marketplace divide holds in Nigeria too, however for plenty of millennial and Gen Z customers, telephones are about extra than simply capability.
Younger Nigerians say the iPhone’s exclusivity and working machine give it a novel status. Apps prevalent with Gen Z, like Snapchat and Instagram, carry out higher on iPhones, because of the seamless integration with its digicam, they are saying. The airdrop detail additionally makes it simple to percentage information inside of their community.
Nonetheless motivated to get his palms on an iPhone, Alawada accompanies James in the course of the labyrinth of Laptop Village. Frenzied and fast moving, the tech marketplace snakes via seven streets – a cacophony of low-rise structures, repurposed bungalows and iron-clad kiosks via alleys.
Its streets teem with umbrellas and clusters of investors. Inactive automobiles lend as backdrops for model stalls, month meals distributors weave via, feeding the bustling population.
Damp from the hail, James and Alawada in the end achieve a hectic store belonging to Solomon Dosumu.
Dosumu specialises in telephone maintenance, and has a unclouded desire for iPhones, which outsell Androids in his bundle. James says Dosumu’s maintenance are so meticulous, they appear flawless to the bare perceptible.
Within the bundle, shoppers take a seat in a ready section; one telling James that Dosumu has stepped out to select up alternative displays for an iPhone 11 Professional and a 14 Professional Max. Alawada waits impatiently, month outdoor the store, a poster advertises iPhone 16 preorders for the in large part unreachable 3 million naira price ticket.
This yr’s iPhone is the priciest within the flagship lineup, particularly in African nations like Nigeria, which impose top import price lists to inspire native manufacturers and lift income. When contacted by means of Al Jazeera to remark at the residue price burden for iPhones that customers in African nations frequently wish to undergo, Apple didn’t reply to our emails.
Thriving casual marketplace
The call for for vintage, repaired iPhones has fuelled a casual marketplace the place repairmen like Dosumu breathe modern time into older telephones, recycling them for resale.
In parks like Laptop Village, retail outlets like Dosumu’s bridge the space between luxurious and affordability.
Android telephones depreciate temporarily in price because of the top price of changing their AMOLED displays, which is able to fit the cost of a second-hand instrument. In the meantime, iPhones, month pricey to fix, frequently importance extra reasonably priced LCD or extensively to be had OLED displays imported from China.
Many of those telephones start from China in bulk, normally with minor defects – refuse Face ID, cracked again glass – and are shipped to repairmen like Dosumu in Nigeria. As soon as fastened, they’re resold.
Some are brand-new gadgets swapped by means of folk desperate to improve, month in uncommon circumstances, stolen telephones are resold then sufferers are pressured to plank out in their iCloud accounts all over a theft.
Easy to advanced maintenance
In any case, Dosumu returns to the store, flanked by means of two males wearing iPhone portions. One, a screwdriver between his tooth, in brief blocks Alawada’s view of the LED-strewn stands. There sits the Sierra Blue 12 Professional he has been eyeing, and Alawada’s prospect heightens.
As an “engineer’s engineer”, Dosumu, 37, is aware of helping fellow technicians. He started his walk years in the past as an apprentice, solving smartphones then depart his petrol station activity searching for one thing extra solid – across the occasion the primary iPhone was once introduced.
“I’ve always loved technology – phones, gadgets, all that. That passion made phone repairs an easy choice,” Dosumu says month operating at the iPhone 11 Professional. “I came to Computer Village, met someone who fixed my phone, told him I wanted to learn, paid him for six months and enrolled. I ended up spending a year there.”
When Dosumu started his profession in 2009, the iPhone 3GS was once in large part unnoticed in Nigeria, with even much less pastime within the iPhone 4 please see yr. Blackberry ruled the marketplace.
Now, Dosumu fees progressive iPhone engineers 150,000 naira ($90) for 6 months of coaching, a lot of which he admits to finding out from YouTube.
Dosumu’s walk to mastery has been stuffed with demanding situations, with dismantled telephones as proof of his struggles. “Screens are the easiest,” he says. “But more complex repairs – like the iPhone’s True-Depth Face ID or battery replacements – have cost me time, money and plenty of batteries. It’s not as simple as swapping out AA batteries,” he provides with a wry smile.
“When you replace parts, the phone displays Apple’s “unknown parts” message, and a few options, like battery fitness, prevent operating,” Dosumu explains. “To fix that, I had to invest in specialised tools.” Amongst those are gadgets just like the JCID Romeo Face ID Chip and the JCID Q1 iPhone Battery Fitness Restore Board, crucial equipment for bypassing Apple’s boundaries and restoring complete capability.
It’s been use it. Due to the call for for older and repaired iPhones, Dosumu can backup himself, handover for his people and book up together with his hire.
He alternatives up two little motherboards, each and every slightly an inch extensive, marked with type numbers starting from the iPhone 6 to the 15 Professional Max. “These”, he explains, “are crucial for resetting batteries, recalibrating cameras and clearing error messages” – indispensable equipment for navigating Apple’s strict restore protocols.
Dosumu after reaches for a twilight case, revealing its contents that he says price him greater than 300,000 naira ($180). Inside of is metal {hardware} cradled in protecting foam. “If you want to go far in this business, you have to invest. This one is for fixing Face ID. I just got it from China.”
Creating a do business in
Even though Dosumu works on all sorts of telephones, he says he cherishes his shoppers’ confidentiality and best do business in in {hardware}. “I don’t hack,” Dosumu insists, explaining that iCloud-locked telephones are just about unattainable to free up and normally finally end up being offered for portions.
However for him, the {hardware} holds price. When any person brings a locked telephone to him – whether or not disabled by means of repeated password makes an attempt or marked as stolen – he refrains from probing the starting place of those gadgets, visible them rather as sources for past maintenance.
“I have plenty in my shop. Sometimes, I use them to train apprentices,” he explains, securing the overall screws on an 11 Professional. Nearest sealing the again, he powers it on optimistically, after advises the landlord, “Don’t remove the nylon for a couple of days.” The nylon now not best protects the display however serves as a guaranty marker. “Take it off, and the warranty’s void.”
In any case, turning his consideration to Alawada and James, Dosumu confirms the scholar’s preliminary fears: with the naira’s subside towards the buck, emerging customs charges and the let fall of the untouched iPhone, the 600,000 naira ($361) he had stored is probably not plenty for the iPhone 12. However Dosumu takes pity on him.
“Your Android phone, what’s wrong with it? Just the screen?” Dosumu asks Alawada, analyzing the wear and tear. He sends an apprentice to test for a alternative display as Alawada palms over the telephone then taking away his SIM card and waits anxiously.
The apprentice sends a message to inform Dosumu {that a} alternative display for the Android is to be had. “I’ll use your phone and the repair to make up for the iPhone [cost]. I’ve seen you eyeing the blue phone since you came in,” Dosumu tells Alawada, pulling out his keys and opening the glass show off.
As he palms the iPhone to Alawada, the younger guy’s optical brightness up beneath the fluorescent lighting fixtures. He inspects the entirety – the digicam, battery, display – and reveals not anything amiss, with out realizing the real extent of healings which have been executed at the instrument.
Alawada and Dosumu conclude the do business in. The younger guy has in the end joined the make a selection ranks of iPhone customers in Africa.
‘I will own an iPhone’
With doubt at the back of him, Alawada leaves Dosumu’s store together with his pre-used iPhone – plus a charger Dosumu threw in for distant – cosy in his patch. He retraces his steps again to the equipment kiosk, hoping to shop for a unclouded telephone case he had detectable previous, with out paying a lot consideration to the bustling marketplace and the folk bumping into him as he walks.
Quickly, Alawada reveals himself misplaced available in the market maze. He had forgotten to invite James for instructions and does now not need to hassle him now. However as Alawada reaches for his telephone, he realises it’s long past. His palms shake as he pats his wallet, and scans the field and population, hoping to peer a responsible face. Next, the panic hits.
Alawada’s sobs split in the course of the bustle as he collapses to the field. A couple of passersby look his approach, however maximum forget about him – realizing what most likely took place. The black prison aspect of Laptop Village, as soon as a hearsay to him, has develop into his truth.
“Why are you disturbing our station?” Mr Bello, a policeman asks, lofty over Alawada. In his hysteria, the scholar had now not realised he was once in entrance of the police station. “You’ve scammed oyinbo [foreigners], used their money to buy an iPhone, and now you’re crying because you’ve been scammed?” the officer accuses.
Alawada, trembling, holds up his ID. “Sir, I’m not a yahoo boy. I’m a student,” he says the use of the native slang time period for scammers.
“A student?” Mr Bello taunts. “Where did you get the money to buy an iPhone?”
Cornered, Alawada is not able to provide an explanation for how he had scraped in combination the cash and Mr Bello does now not appear to offer. To him, a tender guy with an iPhone method something: fraud.
Bello tells Alawada to walk throughout the station to put in writing a remark, however Alawada and the others sitting there – all sufferers of a indistinguishable destiny – understand it is useless. The telephone is long past and the remark is a misplaced reason.
As Alawada sits on the station, the relentless hum of Laptop Village – with its maze of tech hustlers and keen consumers – roars on; fortunes being made and misplaced with each transaction.
On this sprawling, unforgiving marketplace, the place even the best-laid plans can fall apart, it’s unclouded: The home frequently wins.
Now dejected and reeling from the loss, Alawada is extra wary than prior to. However he nonetheless holds onto his iPhone goals.
“I will own an iPhone but I won’t be so eager to get one at any cost,” he says.
“It may take a while and a lot of sacrifices, but I will get one – and by God’s grace, it will be a brand new one.”